Evadoc newsletter 11-2, Summer 2021

Content

At Your Service!
Open Monuments Day & Project Diverse Religious Heritage in Flanders
Interns Evangelical Theological Faculty, Leuven
Operation Mobilisatie International
Acquisitions
Crowdfunding
KADOC-KU Leuven
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At Your Service!

Fortunately, many Covid-19 measures will have been lifted or relaxed by the time this newsletter is published. Like everyone else, we also are looking forward to full normalization of society, to offer our services as before. Collecting and preserving archives and publications on the Protestant and Anglican presence in our society and making finding aids is an important activity. But we do much more! Evadoc also develops heritage services tailored to Protestant and related religious communities. The results of ‘Hemelsbreed. Diverse Religious Heritage in Flanders,’ confirmed our assessment of the most pressing heritage needs in Protestant and Anglican communities. Finally, we are also looking forward to coming to you with workshops and training sessions. We are happy to share our knowledge and expertise about records creation, records management challenges, and record-keeping issues in the context of the local church or an organization. Of course, other aspects of heritage management can also be addressed. Please get in touch with the Evadoc consultant to discuss the details. As you may know, we conduct our services according to the modalities of a protocol of cooperation with KADOC-KU Leuven.

Open Monuments Day and Project Diverse Religious Heritage in Flanders

In the previous newsletter, we wrote extensively about the project ‘Hemelsbreed. Diverse religious heritage in Flanders.’ Both the report and the videos are still available online. The follow-up phases of this unique project have been integrated into the regular activities of the participating organizations. Within the framework of KADOC-KU Leuven, the Evadoc consultant will take the lead for the Protestant and Anglican communities. On Heritage Day, Sunday, September 12, 2021, in every province, a local religious community presents its religious heritage to a broader audience. This year, the theme of the Open Monument Day is 'heritage and inclusion.' The Evangelical Church De Rots in Wondelgem and the United Protestant Church in Belgium (VPKB/EPUB) in Horebeke, represent the Protestant churches. The former is a classic example of the conversion of a building into a church. In Horebeke, among other things, the church from 1795 and the only Protestant cemetery in Belgium, dating from 1824, can be visited.
You can visit Anglican heritage in St. Boniface in Antwerp. The current monumental church building was built between 1906 and 1910. But the Anglican presence in this city goes back much further.

The complete program of Open Monuments Day is available here from Monday, August 2, 2021. That leaves you with plenty of time to put together your program for September 12.

Interns Evangelical Theological Faculty, Leuven

This spring, two students from the Evangelical Theological Faculty, Leuven (ETF), did an internship at Evadoc. Thomas Exalto researched the heritage of migrant churches in Mechelen and Leuven. Tom van Steenis processed archives and got acquainted with why record and archives management is essential for the local church.

In the ETF newsletter, Thomas Exalto wrote about his internship:
"Between February and April, I did a research internship at Evadoc. This is an Archives and Documentation Center for Protestant and Evangelical Heritage. My internship focused on mapping the heritage and heritage needs of religious migrant communities in Mechelen and Leuven. During my internship, I first studied the theory of religious heritage, and then I engaged in field research. For the field research, I contacted and visited various church communities. I used a questionnaire intending to map their heritage and heritage needs. Eventually, I included the data in an article. I found out that churches need to become more aware of their religious heritage and heritage needs. Often they have such needs but are unaware of them. It was enriching to bridge the gap in this internship between practice and the skills I acquired during my studies. I also found it inspiring to get acquainted with various international church traditions."

As part of his internship, Tom van Steenis wrote an article about the relevance of archives and archiving for local churches. With permission, I gladly share some excerpts.

“When I started my studies at the Evangelical Theological Faculty of Leuven in 2018, we as students were given a tour of EVADOC, the Protestant-Evangelical Archives and Documentation Centre. That's where I was first introduced to archives. At that time, it didn't bother me much. I wasn't sure what one could do with these old documents. A library of books was more appealing. Archives also seemed so inaccessible, hidden in repositories. It is not like recognizing a book on the shelf by its cover. Archive documents are all hidden in similar boxes and folders. You have to search well. However, as most treasures are hidden, one has to dig to discover a treasure chest. When you find such a treasure, you immediately realize you have to cherish it. During my internship, I have experienced that many treasures are hidden in these folders and boxes that one would miss without repositories."

Tom gives three arguments why the preservation of archives and other heritage is important.
a) Practical or administrative argument.
“Without an archive, many organizations would be less functional and effective. For example, with good archives management, churches can easily trace their roots, look up previous decisions, what was discussed at prior meetings, how money was spent, et cetera.”

b) Research
Archives are an important tool to present “an objective, neutral and honest view of history.” Van Steenis notes that “archives are not wide open doors to the past, but only small cracks. It only gives a glimpse of the past.” Using a concrete example, he then demonstrates that proper and thorough research of archival sources can lead to adjusting certain perceptions.
"Some evangelicals, disapproving ordination of women, are often convinced they are simply in line with their tradition. However, archives demonstrate that this is not true. In the past, evangelical women have been active in ministry, including preaching.”

Furthermore, archives are a gold mine to “compile a biography or determine the general opinion on certain matters and how people acted on specific circumstances. Finally, archival research can provide context and background of certain decisions.”

c) Emotional-argument
According to Tom, “This perspective is best understood by most people.” At least, that was the case for me. In Europe, Christianity is in decline. In many churches, membership is dropping. But ever since Christianity emerged, members have passed on their traditions, beliefs, and rituals to the next generations. This is often intangible heritage, but also – and perhaps especially – tangible heritage is precious. It gives context to the intangible. Therefore, archives are an important means by which the Christian faith and its interpretation can be passed on to future generations.

Van Steenis: heritage expresses and substantiates how the Christian faith was experienced. Evangelical churches study their predecessors and reflect on them. An example: I learned a lot about the evangelical movement in Europe through the archives of the European Evangelical Alliance. About the events they organized, the relations with other national and international organizations, their opinion on the ordination of women, et cetera .”

And so, today’s Christians can connect themselves to previous generations. Each generation faces the challenge of presenting Christianity in a new and contemporary 'language.' For example, one can learn from the European Evangelical Alliance not only which tools and methods were used for evangelism but also gain insight into which ones were effective and how evangelism can be improved.”

Van Steenis concludes: “Christian heritage not only provides an identity but also gives expression and substance to the faith of its adherents. It reflects the convictions and traditions of the past. Therefore, realizing that today’s generation will become 'the past of the future,' is an important step towards good heritage management and practices by present-day churches. And so, they too will make an important contribution to pass their story to future generations.”

Operatie Mobilisatie International

In 2019 we already announced that the worldwide archives of Operation Mobilization would be deposited at Evadoc. In recent months, the first two parts have arrived in Leuven. The OM USA archives crossed the ocean on a container ship. In the photo, the ship sails up the mouth of the Western Scheldt to eventually dock in Antwerp.
The second shipment was from OM Eastern Europe and arrived overland. It covers both the period before and after the fall of the Iron Curtain. It goes without saying that we will keep you informed of further developments.

Acquisitions

In addition to the archives of OM International, we also received additions to the archives of Jean-Claude Thienpont, Jean Vanhees, and Herman Spaargaren.

The following items have been added to our library:
Monica Kendall, Lies and the Brontës. This book is partly based on research in the parish archives of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Brussels, which has been put in the care of Evadoc for safekeeping.

Luc Schmidt donated received several hymnals that have been used in the meetings of the Brethren assemblies.

The Faculty of Protestant Theology and the Synodal Council of the United Protestant Church in Belgium gave us multiple volumes of the following periodicals from duplicates in the Boudin-Willems Archives:

• De Stem van de Protestantse Kerk in België
• Het Christelijk Volksblad
• De Blijde Booschap voor Nederland (Silo)
• Le Chrétien Belge
  Le Glaneur Missionnaire
• Paix et Liberté
  
  We conclude the section with the titles of several digital newsletters that also have been added to our collection:
• Hulp aan Haïti
• Mercy Ships
• Christian Climate Action Belgium

Crowdfunding

From time to time, we post additional news items on our website.
Recently we posted the article “For example, a blog post appeared a while back under the title “Geef Onze Hoop terug hoop” [translated: Give Our Hope Back Hope.]
For those who missed that article, I will include this item slightly adapted in this newsletter.

From 1925 to 1963, the Belgian Evangelical Mission (BEM), now Vianova, published the Dutch-language magazine Onze Hoop and its French counterpart Notre Espérance. These magazines are a unique source documenting Belgium's Protestant and Evangelical landscape broadening after the First World War. They provide insight into the developments at both local and national level, international contacts, and the theological convictions of the BEM, founded by Americans.
Onze Hoop and Notre Espérance are, however, highly endangered. Especially during the interwar period, the quality of the paper on which they were printed is very poor. Even under the optimal conditions in which they are stored at KADOC, the natural decay of the material is high. It becomes brittle, and any manipulation leads to irreversible damage. To preserve these magazines for the future and provide permanent access on the internet, digitizing is a must.
However, digitization costs money, and our budget is limited. We are therefore calling on you to finance the digitization of these unique journals. Give Onze Hoop / Notre Espérance back hope.
The cost of digitization: 2000 euros.
Due to the cooperation protocol between Evadoc and KADOC, donations of € 40 or more are tax-deductible in Belgium. Please transfer your gift to the following account BE45 7340 1941 7789 of KADOC-KU Leuven and use 400/0020/43911 as the structured reference code.
Curious about the standings?
This crowdfunding page of KADOC-KU Leuven informs you about how much has already been donated for this project. The standings are updated weekly. When this newsletter was published, the amount was € 180. Of course, we are grateful for that, but this is not yet enough. That's why we need your valued financial support to achieve our goal.
For more information, please get in touch with Aaldert Prins.

KADOC-KU Leuven

To realize its activities, EVADOC cooperates intensively with KADOC. Documentation and Research Center for Religion, Culture, and Society of the KU Leuven. Evadoc and KADOC: gateway to the Protestant and Evangelical heritage.

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At your service! written by Aaldert Prins in Newsletter

]]> Tue, 06 Jul 2021 14:09:58 +0200 https://www.evadoc.be/en/blog/detail/at-your-service https://www.evadoc.be/en/blog/detail/cultural-heritage-from-past-and-present?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cultural-heritage-from-past-and-present

Table of contents Evadoc E-newsletter 11-1 Winter 2020-2021

Changing Times
Volunteer
Hemelsbreed
ETF-Trainee
Sharing Expertise
Flemish Cultural Heritage Day 2021
New Acquisitions
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Changing times

The Covid-19 measures have profoundly impacted our society since mid-March 2020. Clearly, this also had an impact Evadoc's operations. The physical collection could not be consulted in the reading room of KADOC-KU Leuven for a while. Because conditions can alter rapidly, please check this link for the latest news regarding corona measures at KADOC. Of course,  appropriate measures have been taken to protect your health during a visit as best we can.

That being said, when processing archives, you may notice that times are changing. Take for instance the archives of the European Evangelical Alliance. It contained an unused ticket for the Wartburg, dating from shortly before the Iron Curtain was breached. During the Sixteenth Century, Martin Luther spent a year in hiding at this castle, which was located in former East Germany during the Cold War. The text on the back is a living illustration of the "Marxist Luther image" which the GDR promoted from 1978 onwards.

Volunteer

On March 1, 2020, Jakob Broersma started to work as a volunteer. The idea was that he registers the new acquisitions in the catalog. The corona measures soon thwarted these plans. We are happy that Jakob intends to come back to KADOC in due course and help us for an afternoon every week.

We could certainly use more volunteers! So don't hesitate to contact us and we'll discuss the possibilities.

 

 

Hemelsbreed

Our September 2019 newsletter (only available in Dutch and French) introduced the project "Hemelsbreed. Diverse religious heritage in Flanders." KADOC and PARCUM, two cultural heritage organizations, recognized by the Flemish government, decided to map Flanders' State-recognized religions' cultural heritage and cultural heritage needs. Important steps have now been taken as part of this project. Between June 2019 and January 2020, the local faith communities were contacted through their representative bodies , and then interviewed about their heritage. Within KADOC, Evadoc was responsible for the Protestant-Evangelical and Anglican participants.

 

The results were presented in a research report during a webinar with nearly 100 participants from Belgium and abroad. One of the conclusions was that quite a few participating protestant congregations have no inventory of their objects. Fortunately, a practical manual was published a few years ago to assist the local churches, which can be found here. A second need is assistance and advice on storage and organization of both paper and digital archives, and consultation of archives and privacy regulations. These archival needs are also present among the participating Anglican parishes. We will provide the local faith communities with (links to) the necessary tools to address their cultural heritage needs. The report (in Dutch only) can be downloaded via this link.

The report is an important milestone in mapping the diverse religious heritage and needs involved in Flanders. In the follow-up process, action lines will be developed for the religions surveyed, and efforts will be made to broaden and internationalize. We will keep you informed through multiple channels.

Finally, we would like to draw your attention to the short videos made as part of this project to highlight a part of the cultural heritage. There is one video for each religion. The video on Protestant cultural heritage was shot in the Evangelical Center in Deurne and can be viewed via this link.

The Anglican heritage recordings took place in St. George's Anglican Church in Knokke. Take a look via this link. For a playlist with all six videos, click here.

ETF-Trainee

[caption id="attachment_2544" align="alignright" width="223"] Former location of a migrant church in Ghent.[/caption]

An internship was scheduled from February to April 2020 for Marije Roeleveld student at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Leuven. Covid-19 and the lockdown created several obstacles. Ultimately,  a few months later than planned, she  successfully completed her internship. Marije took the 'Hemelsbreed' survey to some 30 migrant churches in Ghent. As these communities move regularly, contacting and following up these congregations can be quite a challenge. The data she collected are an important addition for the 'Hemelsbreed'-database on religious heritage and the linked needs. 

Sharing Expertise

Evadoc regularly receives enquiries, from Belgium or further afield, in relation with the history or heritage of Protestantism in Flanders, other parts of Belgium, or the former colonies. Not only academics contact us. Some want to learn more about their family history, others want to investigate their congregation’s history.

Another way of sharing expertise is by giving guest lectures. Every academic year, consultant Aaldert Prins is invited to the Evangelical Theological Faculty, Leuven, to lecture on Flemish Protestantism's history from 1781 onwards. It has also become a tradition to introduce KU Leuven Bachelor students of the course “Religion in Europe: structures and cultures” to Protestantism and Evadoc.

Flemish Heritage Day 2021

 

 

The annual Flemish Cultural Heritage Day is an ideal opportunity for local churches and organizations in Flanders and Brussels to promote their cultural heritage. Due to the corona pandemic, the 2020 anniversary edition had to be canceled this spring. Organizers rescheduled the event to 2021, keeping both the theme, 'The Night,' and the format, a weekend instead of a Sunday. The new dates are Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25, 2021.

Registrations close on January 18, 2021.

This brochure (Dutch only) is useful to give you an idea of what kind of activities could be organized.

New Acquisitions

As usual, we present some of the acquisitions of 2020.
The following new books were added to our collection:

• Jan Maes: De ster en het kruis. De Gereformeerde Jodenzending in Antwerpen en Brussel (1931-1948)
• Margreet Groeneveld, Mozaïek, verhalenbundel; overleven in en na prostitutie, uitbuiting en mensenhandel.
• Maarten Hertoghs, Asaja
• Bruno Sebrechts, Uw licht op mijn schaduw
• Johan Lukasse, Gods werk in mijn vierde levenskwartaal

 

 

 

 

 

Réactions d'un papa chrétien envers sa fille musulmane

• David Bouillon, L'Eglise et les malades du 2e siècle à nos jours 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From time to time, the collection is also expanded with older publications. Examples include:

• Leven en streven van Abraham Hans (1982)
• Kerken en vrede. Een geschiedenis van de Wereldbond voor Internationale Vriendschap door de Kerken (1989)
• Het getal van de Nederlandsche martelaars der 16de eeuw (1908)
• Rien sans Dieu Plans et suggestions pour le travail religieux à l'Union Cadette (1941)

The magazine collection also continually grows and continues to grow and broaden. Not only missing issues are added, but also new titles enrich the collection. Again, we give you some examples:

• Kerkblad,  Evangelischal Church, Balen
• Tijdschrift (journal) of the Fraternity of Dutch and Flemisch Pentecostal Churches
•  MEMO, local church magazine, United Protestant Church in Belgium (UPCB)  Turnhout
• De Protestantse Stem, magazine of the Protestant Broadcaster
• Evangelie Huis aan Huis
• Jong & Vrij + Tegenstroom
• Kapelbode, local church magazine, UPCB Brasschaat
• Agapè
• Credo local church magazine, UPCB Malmédy

 

 

Support us

You can support Evadoc in various ways. Why not join us as a volunteer? Financial support is another option. All donations are received with gratitude, and can be sent to: Evadoc, Leuven (Belgium), IBAN: BE92 7340 2819 9323, BIC: KREDBEBB of Evadoc in Leuven, Belgium.

Are you on Facebook? Organize a fundraiser for Evadoc on this platform! It is up to you to choose the occasion, your birthday, ...

Facebook will transfer the full amount of the donations to our bank account after the fundraiser ends.

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You can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time by clicking on this link.

Cultural Heritage from Past and Present written by Aaldert Prins in Newsletter

]]> Fri, 18 Dec 2020 13:42:58 +0100 https://www.evadoc.be/en/blog/detail/cultural-heritage-from-past-and-present https://www.evadoc.be/en/blog/detail/e-newsletter-december-2012-2?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=e-newsletter-december-2012 3 n° 2, December 2012

Content

2013 Lecture Sébastien Fath Internship Public activities French-speaking Belgium Commitee of Recommendation International Contacts Acquisitions Donations

2013

Evadoc wishes you all the best for this new year! Two thousand and thirteen is for us the start of a new policy period. In October 2012, Joke Schauvliege, Flemish Minister of Culture, announced her decisions about the KADOC-KU Leuven policy plan 2013-2017. As you may have read in the last e-newsletter, the Evadoc activities are included in this plan. The subsidy for the Evadoc activities remains at the same level as previous years. With that, we can continue our base tasks. It will not be entirely possible to realize all the extra initiatives that Evadoc wants to carry out in the upcoming years, like the initiatives with reference to the migrant churches. We are convinced that, because of the steady growth of documentation and archives, Evadoc will be able to be of service to more and more researchers, with the study of the Protestant Evangelical churches and movements in Flanders, in the Belgian and international context. At least as important is our task to advise and assist churches and organizations in the field of generating and storage of archives. Besides that, we will continue to contribute in different ways to familiarize the public with the Protestant-Evangelical heritage.

Lecture Sébastien Fath

The French historian and sociologist Sébastien Fath is coming to Leuven on February 14^th 2013 at the invitation of Evadoc, KADOC and the Evangelical Theological Faculty, ETF. He will give a lecture entitled ‘Immigrant Evangelical Churches in Europe and Social Integration: Mapping the Phenomenon’. This lecture, with the opportunity to ask questions, will be given from 2 pm to 4 pm at ETF and from 5 pm to 7 pm at KADOC as part of the KADOC-KU Leuven Seminaries. The lecture at ETF is intended for students in theology, for those involved from the new immigrant churches, but also elders, pastors and other leaders from the Protestant and Evangelical churches. The lecture at KADOC is addressed to researchers from within KU Leuven as well as external researchers. As the title indicates, Dr. Fath will discuss the Evangelical migrant churches, which grew the last two decennia everywhere in Europe. Among others, he will go into the question what this phenomenon means for the established churches, and how these new churches do or do not stimulate social integration. Dr. Fath is the author of about fifteen books and a permanent researcher at the Centre national de recherche scientifique, CNRS, in Paris. Besides that, he is a member of GSRL (Groupe Sociétés Religions Laïcités), an organization that does research into religion and secularization. Dr. Fath mainly examines the intercultural reflection on society, politics and religion.. Seminar ETF             Seminar KADOC

Internship

This academic year there is a student from the ETF, who is doing her internship at Evadoc. She has written a brief description of what she will be doing:.

My name is Marina Lamparter. I am 22 years old and I study at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Leuven. I am in the third year of the bachelor program. In this year we have to do an internship of eight weeks. I was looking for an internship with a focus on research. My interest in history and the current reality of the different churches in Belgium brought me to Evadoc. I got the proposal to do research into the immaterial cultural heritage of Protestant-Evangelical churches in Flanders. This means that I am going to visit different churches and their pastors to ask some questions about what is specific for that church and denomination, what their practices are and how their practices have changed during the years. The results of this research will be documented at Evadoc. Another part of my internship is recording oral history of the Protestant-Evangelical movement in Belgium. For this, I will interview Christians at the end of an eventful career who want to tell about their experiences. These interviews will be recorded and retained in the archives of Evadoc, so that these interesting histories will be saved. I think this will be a very interesting internship, I look forward to gain more insight in the interview techniques and am curious about what the research will yield.

Public Activities

Evadoc was closely associated with Tandem, a once only magazine of the denominations Vrije Evangelische Gemeenten (VEG) and Evangelische Christengemeenten Vlaanderen (ECV). Illustrations were delivered from the BEZ-archive and Aaldert Prins was the general editor and wrote some of the articles. The magazine, that wants to give a helicopter view of the Evangelical movement in Flanders, was presented on November first 2012 in the Capitole in Gent during the special evening programme of the Vlaamse Evangelische Familydag, a yearly conference. In the e-newsletter of December 2011 you may have read about our cooperation in the exhibition Gott mit uns in the IJzertoren in Diksmuide. The programm of 7 november 2012 of ERTS, a Flemish evangelical broadcaster, was devoted entitely to this exhibition. Coördinator Peter Verplancke provided professional commentary, completed with contributions by Johnny Stroobant and Aaldert Prins. On December 6^th 2012, the Center for Religious Art and Culture, CRKC, organized a workshop about religious immaterial cultural heritage. Evadoc discussed the appointment of pastors in the United Protestant Church in Belgium as an example from Protestant-Evangelical side. Immaterial cultural heritage includes practices and knowledge that are part of the collective memory and that often survived until today, whether or not in a changed form. It is intended to make an inventory of the entire Flemish Protestant-Evangelical immaterial heritage in its Belgian and international context. .

French-speaking Belgium

The leaflet, in which Evadoc explains its origin and activities, is now also available in French. It was handed out at ‘La Convention,’ the yearly conference of the French-speaking churches of the BEM and the Association des Eglises Protestantes Evangélique Belge (AEPEB).In the upcoming weeks the leaflet will be sent to the French-speaking Protestant-Evangelical churches in Belgium. You can also request this leaflet yourself.

Committee of Reccomendation

With pleasure I give the word to Jean Louis Simonet, about why he recommends Evadoc.

“Why an Evangelical archives centre in Belgium? The existence of the Evangelical church, as an important part of God’s salvation plan for all mankind, is part of human history. Being a Christian, we are glad that Jesus became part of history when he was born in Bethlehem. God took the difficulty to ‘archive’ this happening in His Word. He took care, that this was preserved in written form, until today, available for everyone who wants to read it. The history of our churches, organizations and Evangelicals, of course does not have such an importance as the incarnation of Jesus, but still, historians, sociologists and other researchers may have interest in this. And when we, in spite of weaknesses that are inherent to our human existence, have nothing to hide, it is regrettable that documents with reference to our Protestant-Evangelical service, can disappear without a trace, because of negligence, ignorance or a lack of responsibility. It is regretful that we know so little about churches or organizations that have already disappeared, even when we have the fortune that there are people still alive who have known these churches or organizations! I appreciate that our Flemish brothers founded Evadoc in order to retain this information, moreover, that they opened the door to French-speaking Evangelicals, so that they too can take advantage of the skills that God gave them with reference to the preservation of our archives. May God bless Evadoc!

International Contacts

This summer, our archives consultant, Aaldert Prins, was present at a quadrennial conference of the International Association for Missionary Studies (IAMS) in Toronto. This seems to have nothing to do with Evadoc but nothing is further from the truth. One of the study groups is entitled DABOH, an abbreviation for Documentation, Archives, Bibliography and Oral History. In this seminar, various papers were read about mission archives. These papers discussed both the content of archives as well as the conditions in which they are preserved and the possibilities and/or difficulties to describe them. Aaldert Prins presented the BEM-archives. Firstly, the efforts of the Americans Ralph and Edith Norton for the Belgian soldiers during the First World War were discussed. Thereafter it was shown how the archives were transferred to the archive deposit of KADOC in order to preserve it in the best conditions. At the conclusion, the description and the inventory of the archives in scopeArchiv were given. The lectures of the last four conferences of this study group will be published in a book in the beginning of 2013. In Toronto, the preparations were also made for a conference in 2014 in Rome. The theme of that conference will be ‘the possibilities and obstacles of new technology for the preservation and description of mission archives and the study of these archives.’

Acquisitions

The last six months the Evadoc collection was enriched with several archives and documentation. We want to introduce some of these acquisitions. Indispensable for everyone who wants to know more about the genesis of the Pentecostal movement in Flanders is Ignace Demaerel’s licentiate’s thesis from 1990, entitled ‘‘Tachtig jaar Pinksterbeweging in Vlaanderen (1909-1989) : een historisch onderzoek met korte theologische en sociologische analyse.’ The VEG gave us ‘Onderweg met God’ (On the way with God), in which twelve people testify about their daily walk with God. Besides that we received some important books on Belgian Protestantism in French. From Jean Dontaine, we got the Périodique du Comité de Jeunesse des Eglises Evangéliques Francophones from November 1992 until now. The Institut Biblique Belge (IBB) gave her duplicate copies of Le Messager Evangélique, a magazine about the second half and the beginning of this century that reported on Protestantism in Belgium. We are still looking for lacking numbers. Possibly you can help us with this. Furthermore, Evadoc received the archives of the closed Eglise Evangélique Libre in Damprémy and personal archives of Jean Louis Simonet. . The archives donated by Gisella van Brusselt is particular indeed. She was closely associated with the establishment of the Ghanaian Church of Pentecost in Belgium. The archives not only contain the information about the origin and functioning, but also the registrations of various uses that are part of religious immaterial cultural heritage.     For both the archives of Wycliffe-Belgium as well as the archives of the Evangelische Gemeente Leuven (EGL) we received some additions. For the EGL it contains the audio-collection of sermons and services. For Wycliffe we received documentation that was published as part of Bible translation projects. The biography of Elisabeth Lemière is also special. As a seventeen year old girl she set off to Congo, together with Abe and Mary Kroeker. There she worked for years as a missionary. This special woman currently lives in a home for the elderly in Canada. Her daughter compiled the biography by means of letters and interviews and illustrated it with pictures. This document gives a rare glimpse in the Evangelical movement in Flanders in the Interbellum and the Protestant Evangelical mission in Congo before the Second World War.

Donations

Thanks to the close collaboration with KADOC, Evadoc can enjoy indirectly grants of the Flemish government. Nevertheless, extra means are desirable to keep up the quality of the service and to expand the Evadoc activities. Everyone who is well disposed to Evadoc’s activity can show this by giving financial support. Evadoc is grateful for every contribution it receives. You can deposit your donations to account number BE92 7340 2819 9323 of Evadoc in Heverlee (IBAN KREDBEBB).   Copyright © Evadoc This page of the Evadoc e-newsletter was last modified on 23 January 2013

E-newsletter December 2012 written by Aaldert Prins in E-Newsletter

]]> Sat, 21 Feb 2015 18:23:39 +0100 https://www.evadoc.be/en/blog/detail/e-newsletter-december-2012-2 https://www.evadoc.be/en/blog/detail/e-newsletter-june-2011?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=e-newsletter-june-2011 Evadoc E-newsletter June 2011 2^nd year of publication, no. 1, June 2011 Contents Introduction Regional Study Evenings Exhibitions French-speaking Belgium Acquisitions LIAS Committee of Recommendation Donations

Introduction

It has already been one year since the first E-newsletter of Evadoc was published (in Dutch). Since then, many ˗ at home and abroad ˗ have found the (electronic) way to Evadoc. By means of this biannual newsletter we want to stay in contact with you and to inform you about numerous matters regarding Evadoc and its activities.

Regional Study Evenings

This autumn, Evadoc management will organize provincial training evenings for the conservation and management of archives in cooperation with KADOC. These training evenings are oriented to everyone who is engaged in the secretarial work and the management of their own archive in church/communities-, non-profit organizations or Protestant-Evangelical associations. The aim of these evenings is to introduce the basic principles of the conservation of archives in a concrete, usable and understandable way. In each province, one evening will be organized, so that everyone has the possibility to attend the training within reasonable distance. The dates are: Tuesday 20 September 2011 in Ichtegem (West-Flanders) Friday 14 October 2011 in Ghent (East-Flanders) Monday 24 October 2011 in Genk (Limburg) Tuesday 16 November 2011 in Deurne (Antwerp) Monday 29 November 2011 in Zaventem (Flemish-Brabant) Tuesday 6 December 2011 in Berchem (Antwerp). This evening, the training will be in English and is specifically oriented to immigrant churches. The leaflet with the programme, addresses and route description can be found on our website. You can register online or in writing..

Do you want to share these dates and the link to the leaflet with other interested parties? For example, with (local) Protestant-Evangelical non-profit organizations for the benefit of mission, church social welfare work, music, etc. We would really appreciate that.

We intend to provide this training in French in the future. We will inform you in due time via this newsletter about when and where these will be given.

Exhibitions

We would like to draw your attention to the gripping photo-exhibition De ziel van Holland (The soul of Holland).  Which influence does the landscape have on our religious perception? Has the Calvinistic abstraction reformed the Dutch landscape or has the abstract harmony determined the faith of the people? Thomas Coomans, lecturer in history of architecture and conservation of monuments at the K.U. Leuven, presents in the cloisters of KADOC a moving series of photographs on the soul of the Dutch country. The exhibition De ziel van Holland, foto’s van Thomas Coomans is free of charge and runs from the 1^st of July until the 17^th of September in the cloisters of KADOC in Leuven. This image gives you a foretaste. The photos were printed in Stimulerende ambiguïteit: Ogen-blikken op de Ziel van Holland, published by Philip Elchers. For practical information about the exhibition you can go to the KADOC-website. For the book we refer you to http://www.philipelchers.nl.

Protestantism

Looking toward the future we have already begun, in cooperation with KADOC, the first preparations for an exhibition of Protestantism in 2015. As the above exhibition, this one will be held in the cloisters of KADOC in Leuven.

French-speaking Belgium

After the French version of the website, the French leaflet will follow after the summer. That is also the signal to become more active in French-speaking Belgium

Acquisitions

From the Vrije Evangelische Gemeente in Koekelare we received an eighteenth-century Dutch Authorized Version of the Bible (Statenvertaling). This Bible fits in the Evadoc collection for various reasons. For example, southern Dutch Protestants participated in the creation of this translation. In addition, the Dutch Authorized Version was the standard Bible in Protestant-Evangelical congregations. There are also four recently written books by Agnes Laurey from the Kempische Volle Evangelie Gemeente Rehoboth. This church also donated our documentation centre two CDs which they produced. Finally, I want to mention the book Belgisch Protestantisme in Perspectief by Guy Liagre, that publishing company Houtekiet have donated to us.

LIAS

Because of the growing digitalization in our society, more and more digital files are arriving at Evadoc (text files, e-mails, photos, websites, etc). Like the classic paper format these have to be selected, described and durably preserved in accordance with archiving principles. Besides that, they have to be made accessible for use. Thanks to the cooperation with KADOC, Evadoc can use LIAS, an archive management system and adjoining digital repository, developed by the K.U. Leuven. The system was presented to the public on the 22^nd of October. You can find an extensive description of LIAS in the KADOC-newsletter. Using LIAS, you can access the descriptions of the archives online which are located at Evadoc, of Operation Mobilization Belgium, Joni and Friends Europe and the Flemish Bible society. The other archives will follow as soon as they are processed.  

Commitee of Recommendation

In Flanders, George Harinck is probably not well-known. He is the president of the Historisch Documentatiecentrum voor het Nederlands Protestantisme (1800-heden) (HDC) of the Free University in Amsterdam and of the Archief- en Documentatiecentrum (ADC) of the Reformed Churches  (Vrijgemaakt) in the Netherlands. He is also the affiliate professor of history at the Theological University Kampen (Broederweg) and professor of collection development and history of neo-Calvinism in the faculties Theology and Literature at the Free University in Amsterdam. Harinck has been involved in the Association of Christian historians (VCH) since its formation in 1989 and directed this association as chairman for several years. In November 2005 the Christelijke Encyclopedie (3^e print) edited by George Harinck was published by Kok.

The reason why I recommend 

Dutch Protestantism is not on an island. Through the ages there was contact with Puritans and Evangelicals in England and Scotland, the Erskines and Alister McGrath. In the east we find Germany, the country with the great Protestant theologians Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. From Denmark we know Kierkegaard and Kaj Munk. But in the south, contacts behind Breda seem to cease and the influence from Belgium appears to be blocked off. Similar to how the Roman Catholic Church was not officially present in the northern provinces from the 16^th century until 1853, she only could maintain a Dutch mission, our view of Protestantism Belgium seems uncharted. Nevertheless, Protestants and Protestant communities also existed in Belgium. Dutch Protestant communities have founded congregations and have viewed Belgium as the closest at hand missionary area since 1830. The question if that was right and if this does not show the Dutch feeling of superiority towards Flanders is still under discussion. Fact is that known Protestants like A. van Schelven, V. Hepp and J.H. Scheps tried to spread the light of the gospel in ‘dark Belgium’. But whatever Dutch influence was exerted on Belgian Protestantism and how much it was nourished from the Netherlands, Protestantism has remained typical Belgian, for the simple reason that Amsterdam is not Brussels and Kampen is not Heverlee. Our southern neighbours were more relaxed and life in the city was less serious in Belgium ˗ I have never heard that Kuyper was seen in his birthday suit in front of a window frame in Amsterdam; but he was seen in the nude in Brussel ˗ and Protestant religious life was not defined by Dutch structures. Protestantism has always had different confessions, dependent on different countries and areas. Because of this, it is a good sign that Belgian Protestantism preserves and manages its own history in Evadoc now. Archive management is always a mark of self-respect. The Dutch people probably have to learn that Protestantism in Belgium is independent and vital, which is shown by the existence of Evadoc. Let us intensify the Protestant dialog with Belgium, like with England, Germany and Denmark. Dutch interest for and support in Evadoc could be a good start. George Harinck

President HDC en ADC

Donations

Thanks to the intensive cooperation with KADOC, Evadoc enjoys indirect financial support from the Flemish authorities. Nevertheless, additional resources are desirable in order to maintain the quality of the service and to expand its activity. Anyone who is interested in supporting the activity of Evadoc can show this by giving us financial support. Evadoc is grateful for every contribution it receives. You can make your donations using the account number BE927 7340 2819 9323 for Evadoc in Heverlee (IBAN KREDBEBB). Copyright © Evadoc This page of the Evadoc electronic newsletter was changed for the last time on 6 juli 2011.

E-newsletter June 2011 written by Aaldert Prins in E-Newsletter

]]> Sat, 21 Feb 2015 17:42:36 +0100 https://www.evadoc.be/en/blog/detail/e-newsletter-june-2011 https://www.evadoc.be/en/blog/detail/e-newsletter-december-2011?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=e-newsletter-december-2011 E-newsletter December 2011 2^nd year of publication, no 2, December 2011 With a brief delay, the fourth E-newsletter is placed on the Internet.

Contents

Public Activities Evadoc on Facebook Exhibition IJzertorenmuseum 75 years EJV Presentation inventory archives BEM ODIS Volunteers (needed) Acquisitions Announcement new brochure  

Public Activities

Evadoc on Facebook

In addition to the website, Evadoc now has a Facebook PageOn this page   messages will appear which have to do with Evadoc or with Protestant-Evangelical inheritance. In addition to the classical mail, telephone and e-mail, this is the fourth way to get in contact with us. You can show your involvement with Evadoc by becoming a ‘Fan’ of us on the Facebook page.

Exhibition IJzertoren

On 30 March 2012, the IJzertoren museum in Diksmuide opens the exhibition  GOTT MIT UNS!!! In this exhibition religion is considered from two points of view. On the one hand, how men tried to prove with propaganda, that God fought on their side and on the other hand, how religion was manifested in the trenches. This exhibition will include some pieces of the BEZ archive, which is under trust with Evadoc. This organization stemmed from the personal initiative of the Americans Ralph and Edith Norton, to render the necessary assistance in the material and psychological field. In 1918, they had contact with around 15-20,000 Belgian soldiers and they employed ten secretaries to deal with the correspondence.

75 years EJV

The Evangelical Youth Movement (Evangelisch Jeugdverbond, EJV) was founded in 1936 as part of the Belgian Evangelical Mission (Belgische Evangelische Zending, BEZ). Its activity has broadened and the EJV has now been the youth (advice) body of the Evangelical Alliance in Flanders (Evangelische Alliantie Vlaanderen) for several years. Together with the celebration of its 75th anniversary the EJV made an appeal to Evadoc for audio-visual material for the magazine Smaker and a videoclip.

Presentation Inventory Archives BEM

On Saturday 5 May 2012 the inventory of the archive of the Belgian Evangelical Mission will be presented at the ETF . Heverlee conference. This inventory will be available online. In the course of the coming weeks the exact programme of the conference will be made known. For this purpose, keep an eye on the website of the ETF or look at our Facebook-page regularly. Whoever wants to have a look at the documents of this archive needs to submit an application to Evadoc indicating their motivation. We will answer this within a short time.

ODIS

Did you know that Evadoc participates in the ODIS research centre and database of intermediary structures in Flanders during the 19th-20th century? Evadoc records data about Protestant-Evangelical churches and organizations, key figures from Protestant-Evangelical backgrounds, publications of and about churches, organizations and persons and archives that they left. If you have information that supplements or corrects the released file cards, you can e-mail us that information.

Volunteers

Evadoc has a new (temporary) volunteer:

I am David Bogaerds. I have studied theology at the ETF for two years now. Before that, I graduated as a business economist in Amsterdam. I got involved with Evadoc through the ETF. Since October, I've been occupied with digging into old volumes of the Kruisbanier for three hours a week. In the Kruisbanier I am looking for relevant information for the ODIS database. Currently these  volumes contain information from just after the Second World War. It is very interesting to read what happened and with what Christians were concerned in those days!

Evadoc can still use more volunteers. Currently, we are urgently looking for someone who can, from time to time, translate things for us from Dutch into French. Besides that, people who like to surf the Internet can help us, even from home. If you want to have more information or if you consider volunteering, send us an e-mailt. Of course, you can also call us..

Acquisitions

The library of Evadoc has  some new publications. Among others we have Het opvoedingstraject van God naar een volwassen christendom by Louis Sanders, Lutheranen in de Lage Landen edited by K.G. van Manen; two English books about the history of Operation Mobilisation and the founder George Verwer; the brochure De schaduw van Matonge, which gives attention to some migrant churches in this colourful Brussels district and an issue of Voyageur, Northeast Wisconsin’s Historical Review, in which an article appeared written by Judy Carlsen about a Protestant community near Waver, who emigrated to Wisconsin at the end of the 19th century. For this article, she made an appeal to Evadoc. Finally, there is a supplement to the archive of the Evangelical Centre Haacht and the surrounding area.  

Announcement new brochure

In the course of 2012, we intend to come onto the market with a handy brochure for Protestant-Evangelical churches and organizations, in which the basic principles of conservation and management of archives are explained clearly. You will find more information in the next e-newsletter and trough our Facebook-page

These matters were dealt with at the regional study evenings last autumn. Unfortunately, there was only a limited interest. The participants present, however, were enthusiastic and went home with many practical and usable hints with reference to the conservation of regional church archives.

 

The next e-newsletter will appear in June.

Evadoc vzw p.a. KADOC, Vlamingenstraat 39, 3000 LEUVEN T +32 (0)16 32 35 00 @ info@evadoc.be www.evadoc.be Facebook :

Copyright © Evadoc This page of the Evadoc e-newsletter was last modified on 21 March 2012

E-newsletter December 2011 written by Aaldert Prins in E-Newsletter

]]> Sat, 21 Feb 2015 15:50:48 +0100 https://www.evadoc.be/en/blog/detail/e-newsletter-december-2011 https://www.evadoc.be/en/blog/detail/evadoc-e-bulletin?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=evadoc-e-bulletin Evadoc E-Bulletin, Volume 5, n° 1

Fall 2014 New Website Lecture Sébastien Fath 'Towards the Ends of the Earth' Heritage Day 2014 Heritage Day 2015 and 2016 Digitalizing Acquisitions Diary

Fall 2014 This newsletter has been published a little later as you were used to. First, our new website was not yet launched. To give maximum exposure to this event, it was decided to relate the launch of the new site with the publication of a new e-bulletin. Secondly, by shifting the publication dates of June and December to October and April, we hope to generate more interest for our activities. As many people were on leave at the time the e-mail notification was sent, this mail could be easily overlooked in a bulk of unread mails after returning to work. As usual we will give a summary of the activities in which Evadoc was involved and list some of our acquisitions. New Website It was high time to restyle our website, which was launched back in 2009. We hope your visit to our site has become more agreeable and, above all, you will find more easily what you are looking for. [Currently the new website is only available in Dutch. We will do our utmost to have the English version online in the not so distant future.] Suggestions and remarks for improvement of the site will be welcomed. Lecture Sébastien Fath

French researcher Sébastien Fath was invited by Evadoc, the Evangelical Theological Faculty and KADOC KU Leuven, Documentation and Research Center for Religion, Culture and Society to give 2 lectures on April 3^rd 2014. In the afternoon a public lecture was organized at the Evangelical Theological Faculty, entitled ‘Immigrant Evangelical Churches in Europe and Social Integration: Mapping the phenomenon.’ In the evening Dr Fath gave, under the same title, a variation of the lecture at KADOC KU Leuven, for researchers and scholars. At both venues, the participants were in a gripping and sparkling way initiated in the multifaceted world of migrant churches.

  ‘Towards the Ends of the Earth'

Aaldert Prins was the sole Belgian representative at a conference entitled ‘Towards the Ends of the Earth: Exploring the Global History of American Evangelicalism, 1840-2010,' which was held from April 23-2, 2014 in Southampton (UK). The venue was jointly organized by the Centre for Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies (University of Southampton, the David Bruce Centre for American Studies (Keele University), the Institute for North American Studies (King’s College, London) and the Roosevelt Study Center ( Middelburg). The Belgian contribution sketched the humanitarian aid to Belgium by several protestant and evangelical churches and organizations in the United States in the immediate aftermath of World War I.

Heritage Day 2014 On April 27^th, together with several local churches in Brussels, Evadoc participated for the first time in the Heritage Day, a yearly venue, organized by Faro, the Flemish interface centre for cultural heritage in cooperation with the heritage communities of Flanders and Brussels. Under the title ‘From Belgian Soldier to All Inhabitants of Brussels,’ an exhibition was held in the basement of the Protestant-Evangelical Church at 7, Rue du Moniteur in Brussels. It displayed the story of the precursor of the Belgian Evangelical Mission, the British and Allied Soldiers Evangelistic Campaign. More than 100 visitors were counted, among whom several descendants of soldiers who were befriended with the Mission’s founders, Ralph and Edith Norton.            In the same room an Iranian, a Dutch-speaking a French-speaking and a Vietnamese church, all founded by or connected to the Belgian Evangelical Mission.           In the auditorium of the same church a unique concert was held by the choir of the French-speaking church and a singing-group of the Vietnamese church. This concert was also attended by quite a few people. Heritage Days 2015 and 2016 The themes for the Heritage Days 2015 and 2016 have been chosen, ‘Inherit’ and ‘Rituals’ respectively. If you consider to participate, feel free to contact us to see how we can help you both with advice and in a practical way. Digitalizing By means of VIAA, the Flemish Institute for Archiving both audiovisual documents in the care of Evadoc as well as documents of the Protestant Broadcaster, located in the Archives of the United Protestant Church in Belgium are being digitalized. The documents that are stored at Evadoc mainly consist of audio recordings of church services of several churches. We want to build a database of sermons / church services of the various branches of Belgian Protestantism. If your church wants to contribute to this project by donating recordings of sermons / church services on cassette, CD-ROM or any kind of carrier, please feel free to contact us. Acquisitions Evadoc has acquired in the past months again quite a few publications. These can be consulted in the KADOC reading room in Leuven. Some of the new publications or documents are listed here below. Joke Verrijze donated photos of the Genk Children’s Home, as well as an issue of the periodical Koers, containing an interview with her. Both Erika Voskuil and the Pentecostal Church ‘the Kruispoort’ in Bruges donated several boxes with publications and archival documents, mainly with regard to Children’s Sunday School activities. Among the books we could add to our collection we’d like to mention 'Catechismus of onderwijzing in de christelijke leering' by Nicolaas de Jonge, 'Johannes Calvijn' by B.W. Ganzevoort, 'Hoe wordt ik verlost van de angst dat ik de onvergeeflijke zonde bedreven heb en van allerlei andere angsten?' by J. Overdulve, 'Door God geleid, werkschrift voor het derde studiejaar van het lager onderwijs' by Raymond Crassaerts, 'Wat doe ik - Christen - in zo'n geval?' by George Winston, ‘Samen op de sofa’ by Jef en Herlinde De Vriese, ‘Gedenkt de gevangenen’ by Henk Bor, ‘Genezen van kanker’ by Hugo van Leemputten, several publications by Susan Osazee of the Kingdom Life Center in Mortsel. Also our collection is enlarged regularly by the library of the Evangelical Theological Faculty, as some publications match better with our collection policy. Diary Sunday 19 – Thursday 23 October Participating in an international conference in Rome, entitled “Documenting Christianity New Technology = New Perspectives for Mission Studies in the 21st Century?” Saturday 25 October Stand at the conference ‘Spirit and Bride say Come’ in Jezus-Eik Wednesdayg 29 October Meeting of Archivists of Durch-speaking Protestant Churches / Organizations in Haarlem (NL) Saturday 1 November Evadoc has a stand at the Evangelische Familiedag in Sint-Niklaas. Saturday 8 November Workshop for the Anglican churches in Belgium at KADOC Tuesday 11 November Evadoc has a stand at the Convention of the A.E.P.E.B. Evadoc has a stand at the VVP Convention

Evadoc E-Bulletin written by Aaldert Prins in E-Newsletter

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